Call for evidence highlights opportunities to make compliance pay

23rd October 2017

The recent call for evidence on the home buying process from government will take views on:

• Gazumping
• Providing better guidance and encouraging the provision of more information up front
• Building trust and reducing risk of fall throughs
• What innovations could make the home move quicker…

among other subjects. among other subjects. And with the potential for even more regulation there needs to be “buy in” from stakeholders already burdened by extensive regulation… and the way to get “buy in” is to demonstrate that compliance with regulation can benefit the business and add value.

What’s in it for me?

This is the crux of the issue for estate agents. Competition has driven down the fees achievable while increased regulation has seen further erosion of revenues as agents increasingly absorb the cost of compliance.

With the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy highlighting that over 80% of purchasers only view the property twice or less before putting in an offer is it any wonder “…although 1 million homes are bought and sold in England each year, around a quarter of sales fall through and hundreds of millions of pounds are wasted.” (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-acts-to-improve-the-home-buying-process) 

Providing better guidance and encouraging the provision of more information up front can only be a win-win-win-win for the agent, vendor, buyer and solicitor. Agents and vendors evidence compliance with regulations; more informed and committed purchasers means fewer aborted transactions; sharing of information presents the potential to introduce the solicitor on day one and make a start on the legal process ultimately saving time on the transaction.

Further Regulation

The introduction of the 4^th Money Laundering Directive in June 2017 now requires agents to carry out customer due diligence on purchasers as well as vendors.

Some agents have gone down the route of electronic checks, for which there is a fixed cost allocated to each check. Others continue to request paper ID the responsibility for which often falls to the valuers; while there is no direct cost, this often ends up taking time in chasing vendors and prevents proactive revenue generating activity.

Instead of requesting paper ID from purchasers and potentially slowing the transaction, how much more positive an experience are you providing your client with electronic checks? Instead of valuers chasing photo ID or paper documentation, what if that time could be used to chase new leads and valuations. What impact could this potentially have on your business? What is the perception this leaves your customers with of your business?

Whichever route is preferred, the vast majority of agents have absorbed these additional costs.

Turning compliance into an opportunity

Compliance Packs from Landmark add value to your customers and streamline the whole compliance process into a few clicks from one place;

• Undertaking and demonstrating compliance with AML responsibilities
• Providing buyers with more information up front, introducing more committed purchasers and reducing the risk of fall throughs
• Identifying key information relevant to property including leasehold information, flood risk, EPC rating, rights of way and access and covenants

 

Get ahead of your competition, and turn compliance from a sunken cost into an opportunity. Complete the contact form below, contact Samantha Peacock today on 01524 220013 or email sam.peacock@landmark.co.uk.

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